Installing Basilisk in Linux

[tman801]

I have heard so much about Basilisk I have decided to give it a try. How do you install it in Linux? I used Synaptic Package Manager but cannot find it anywhere.

[fatboy]

I have heard so much about Basilisk I have decided to give it a try. How do you install it in Linux? I used Synaptic Package Manager but cannot find it anywhere.

You need to extract the tarball, place it in /opt/ using sudo

[tman801]

[quote="fatboy" You need to extract the tarball, place it in /opt/ using sudo[/quote]

I have never put anything in the /opt folder. What are the sudo steps to do this?
I have basilisk-latest.linux64.tar.bz2 in my home folder.

[trava90]

It's not required to extract it to /opt. You can extract the tar.bz2 file anywhere and then execute the browser from there.

[tman801]

I extracted basilisk to my home folder. I can open the folder and click on basilisk,bin and open it but cannot find how to install it.

[vannilla]

I extracted basilisk to my home folder. I can open the folder and click on basilisk,bin and open it but cannot find how to install it.

If the program starts up when running the executable, you have installed it.

[tman801]

I had kinda come to that conclusion. So there is no icon like PM or Firefox?

[Night Wing]

I extracted basilisk to my home folder. I can open the folder and click on basilisk,bin and open it but cannot find how to install it.

If the program starts up when running the executable, you have installed it.

That is not necessarily true. I'm going to use linux Pale Moon as an example since I don't use Basilisk.

Once the Pale Moon folder is extracted from the tarball, you open the folder and scroll on down to Pale Moon-bin, that is the executable file. You can then launch Pale Moon and it will work. However, this process does not install Pale Moon and you can tell because in whatever linux distro you're using, Pale Moon is not listed under Internet in the Menu.

In the above, this is how I use my linux Pale Moon in linux Mint 18.3 Xfce. Since Pale Moon is not listed under Internet in the Mint menu, I've learned how to create the Pale Moon launcher icon by using the icon which is located in the Image files in the Pale Moon folder.

Look at my Panel taskbar in the lower right of the attachment below. You'll have to left click on the attachment to make it larger for easier viewing. You can see the Pale Moon launcher icon which I've created (alongside the SeaMonkey and Firefox launcher icons). All I do is left click the icon and Pale Moon launches, opens and is ready for me to go anywhere on the internet. But to reiterate, Pale Moon is not installed.

Basilisk should operate in the same way.

[tman801]

Thanks Night Wing for reminding me about making a launcher icon.
I just made a launcher icon for Basilisk. Although it is not an icon of Basilisk, it does open Basilisk so I am satisfied for now. I like it so far. I sure hope someone will come up with a Walnutty Theme and a way to use Theme Font Size Changer like they did for Pale Moon. I understand it is a work in progress so I can wait.
Thanks again for yours and all the others reply.

[Night Wing]

@ tman801

I'm guessing the Basilisk serpent image is located in the Basilisk folder that was extracted from the Basilisk tarball. Try looking in the Image files for it and if you find it, you can replace your generic Basilisk launcher which you created with the true Basilisk serpent image.

[tman801]

@ tman801

I'm guessing the Basilisk serpent image is located in the Basilisk folder that was extracted from the Basilisk tarball. Try looking in the Image files for it and if you find it, you can replace your generic Basilisk launcher which you created with the true Basilisk serpent image.

Opened all the folders in Basilisk and do not have an image file that I can find.

Edit: I just found out how to change the icon. I opened the launcher and on the upper left was the icon I did not like. I clicked on it and went to Basilisk folder, opened the browser folder, opened the icon folder, clicked on the Basilisk Icon. Clicked open and I now have the Basilisk Icon. I moved it to my panel and it opens Basilisk.

[Night Wing]

@ tman801

Glad you found how to create the Basilisk serpent launcher icon for your version of Basilisk which is "not" installed. If you would not have found how to create the Basilisk launcher with the Basilisk serpent icon, I was going to take my experimental laptop, which I have two hard drives for it (a Linux Mint 18.3 hard drive and a Windows 7 hard drive), download linux Basilisk and see if I could find the Basilisk serpent image. If found, then create the launcher for it and then launch and open Basilisk.

If I would have succeeded; then I would skin Basilisk to match the lightweight persona solid color I use for linux Pale Moon and that color is named, "Fuzzy Navel", take a screenshot of it and then post the screenshot as an attachment back into this topic thread for you to see. But I don't have to do that now since you found the Basilisk serpent image for the Basilisk launcher icon.

There are two reasons why I don't use Basilisk, but the sole main reason is because Basilisk is a "beta" and it is always in beta. Betas and me don't get along. If something goes wrong while I'm using a beta, I don't know how to fix the problem. So I don't use a beta and I also don't use any unstable versions which in my case, would be the unstable version of linux Pale Moon 28. I'm quite comfortable using the stable version of linux Pale Moon (27.9.3).

[vannilla]

Off-topic:
@Night Wing
While your post is correct, I would argue that installing on Linux means just being sure it runs (i.e. the processor architecture is correct and dependencies are available).
Wether or not a launcher is created or a menu entry is available is a problem for the desktop environment, if any, not for the operating system.
I don't have a desktop environment (or a classic window manager like Openbox), so even if Basilisk were to give me a launcher I would still need to do make my own.
This situation isn't uncommon with Linux users.
Besides, pretty much every Unix program can be "installed" in your home folder: adding their location to the PATH variable means they can be invoked from the shell even without a menu or a launcher.

[tman801]

Hey Night Wing, I agree with you that Basilisk is not installed correctly because I had to redo the launcher icon when I signed on this morning. I understand it is a beta and a lot of problems need to be worked out. I do have Firefox 56 on both w10 & Ubuntu 16.04 set to not update & Basilisk is just like it. When Basilisk becomes permanent I will get rid of Firefox & go with Basilisk. In the meantime it has given me something to do & figure out some problems that according to some people I am too stupid or ignorant to do & must use their browser of choice.
I wonder if "nonothing " will then declare Basilisk Open Source & stop it from accessing their Bank?
Oh well, in a couple of weeks I hope to be able to cancel both Credit Cards & just use the one from my local bank that is just a 1/4 mile from my house.

[Night Wing]

Off-topic:
@ vannilla

I'm not here for an argument. Suffice to say, I don't run with the pack which means I don't follow conventional wisdom. I like to think outside of the box so to speak and this also encompasses other things in my life which are not computer related. Now for a little history.

Linux Pale Moon was first released to the public in January of 2014 and I was one of the very first users to use it. Trouble was, I had trouble installing it. So sniffing around on the linux SolydXK forums since I was a registered member on the SolydXK forums, I was fortunate enough to meet up with a user on there (TroyPulk) who told me I could use linux Pale Moon, running in SolydX with the Xfce desktop environment, without installing it and he showed me how to create the launcher icon for linux Pale Moon by looking in the extracted Pale Moon folder for the Image files where the Pale Moon image was located. Once I created the Pale Moon launcher icon with the Pale Moon image, I was set.

I also used the uninstalled method for linux SeaMonkey and linux Firefox ESR since these two browsers are the ones I use for my backup browsers to Pale Moon. I've used the uninstalled method for all of these mentioned browsers in linux SolydX, Manjaro Xfce and Mint Xfce distros. I finally settled on linux Mint as my operating distro of choice since Mint is so stable and with the Xfce desktop environment and in my opinion, the Xfce desktop environment is more customizable than the Cinnamon and Mate desktop environments without using the linux Terminal. Just the use of gui windows. Hence my preference for the Xfce desktop environment.

I figured since linux Pale Moon, linux SeaMonkey and linux Firefox ESR didn't have to be installed, the same could be said for linux Basilisk. I don't worry about dependencies since I've never had a problem in the 4 years of time with the method I use with the above mentioned browsers in the different linux distros I've used. I'm not a power user by any stretch of the imagination in either linux or windows. I just consider myself a non-technical user who plays around with things to see if I can make things work where most people say it will not work and/or it will cause problems immediately or later on. With my experimentation; I win some and I lose some, but I win more than I lose.

If linux Basilisk would ever come out of being a beta or move beyond an unstable state as an alpha; in other words, being stable like Pale Moon 27.9.3 is now, I'd take Basilisk for a test drive and see if I could "hide the tab bar with one tab" like I can with Pale Moon. I don't know if hiding the tab bar with one tab is listed in the Preferences under Tabs since I haven't tried using Basilisk.